The former U.S. supreme allied commander of Europe said Wednesday that he doesn’t believe NATO’s forces are “adequate.”
Retired Gen. Phil Breedlove, speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, predicted a pivot from the NATO summit in Wales two years ago, where allies reassured each other they would stick together, to more of a deterrence posture at the Warsaw summit coming in July, where he expects discussions over building up forces and capabilities to prevent Russia and North Africa threats from coming into Europe.
Breedlove, who retired in May, stressed that reassurance isn’t enough. For NATO to shift from a 2014 reassurance posture to a 2016 deterrence posture, the entire alliance needs to be more ready and more responsive.
NATO’s ability to afford and sustain a rapid force is “the real art and science that needs to be done,” Breedlove said. “I do not believe our forward forces to be adequate.”
He said NATO needs “enablers” to bring precision and speed to the forces.
While Brexit loomed over the speech, Breedlove said he “doesn’t see a huge impact on NATO.” If anything, the referendum will bring a conversation about unity, commitment and Article 5.
Warsaw is the next milestone in NATO relations, but Breedlove is focused beyond, looking at cyber domain threats, possible relations with Russia and better intelligence sharing between allies. The summit is set for July 8-9.
